Corn Rises on Signs of Worsening Crop Conditions

July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Corn rose the most in a week in Chicago as crop conditions deteriorated in the U.S. after warm weather, while plants are maturing at a slower-than-average pace. Soybeans and wheat climbed.

Sixty-six percent of corn crops in the main growing areas were rated good or excellent as of July 14, down from 68 percent that received the top ratings a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Sixteen percent of corn had reached the silking stage, critical for determining yields, compared with 35 percent of crops on average that had reached that phase by this time in the past five years.

"The development of corn and soybean plants continues to lag behind," Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, said in an e-mailed report today. "There is thus still a risk of lower crop yields if conditions turn out to be too hot and dry."

Corn for delivery in December added 2.8 percent to $5.175 a bushel at 6:37 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. The grain headed for the biggest gain since July 9 after dropping 4.5 percent in the previous two sessions on signs of ample global supplies. The most-active contract slid 26 percent this year as U.S. farmers planted a record crop, estimated by the USDA at 13.95 billion bushels.

Soybeans for delivery in November advanced 1.6 percent to $12.845 a bushel. Sixty-five percent of the U.S. crop earned the top ratings, compared with 67 percent a week earlier, the USDA said yesterday.

Scattered Showers

Temperatures this week in the Midwest may top 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) before cooling on July 20, DTN said in a report today. The region may be mostly dry until scattered showers develop July 19, the forecaster said.

Signs of increased demand also supported corn, Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in a report today. Exporters sold 120,000 metric tons of the grain to unknown destinations for delivery in the year starting Sept. 1, the USDA said yesterday. Export inspections almost doubled in the week ended July 11 from a week earlier, USDA data showed.

Wheat for delivery in September climbed 1.6 percent to $6.8025 a bushel. U.S. spring wheat was rated 70 percent in good-to-excellent condition, down from 72 percent a week earlier, according to the USDA. About 67 percent of winter wheat crops had been harvested, compared with the five-year average pace of 71 percent.

In Paris, milling wheat for delivery in November rose 0.8 percent to 195.50 euros ($256.57) a ton on NYSE Liffe.

--Editors: Dan Weeks, John Deane.

To contact the reporters on this story: Whitney McFerron in London at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net; Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net